Mitt Romney's campaign has reportedly
entered an “audition phase” in its search for a vice presidential
candidate, and local boy Rob Portman is on the AP's speculative list. With three months to go before the Republican National Convention, Romney's people will soon be asking intensely personal questions of potential VPs, such as whether they've ever had marital problems, affairs or mental health counseling. In preparation, many Republicans are already speaking out against President Obama with hopes of sounding like a guy that can help Romney win in November.

The AP included in its rundown of the more high-profile candidates the strengths and potential weaknesses of each:

"The Republicans
who are informally auditioning would each bring different strengths —
and drawbacks — to the presidential ticket.

Ohio Sen. Rob
Portman supported Romney early, has a solid rapport with the
candidate and hails from Ohio, a critical battleground state that
could decide the election. But he wouldn't necessarily appeal
directly to Hispanic or women voters.

(Louisiana Gov.
Bobby) Jindal, the Louisiana governor, could help Romney turn out the
religious right and would add diversity to the ticket as an
Indian-American, but he struggled during a national debut rebutting
the 2010 State of the Union address.

Virginia Gov. Bob
McDonnell appeals to social conservatives but signed a controversial
state law that requires Virginia women to have ultrasounds before
having an abortion.

New Hampshire Sen.
Kelly Ayotte, who's campaigned frequently with Romney, could help
with female voters and in her swing state of New Hampshire. But she's
from New England, the same region of the country as Romney, while
(New Jersey Gov. Chris) Christie, a conservative favorite who can
work a crowd, is from New Jersey.

(Florida Sen.
Marco) Rubio could bring Florida, always a deciding factor in a
general election, and appeal to Hispanics, a fast-growing voting
bloc, but he's run into some trouble over a foreclosed home and
possible misuse of an official credit card. And Ryan is a serious,
leading policy mind with a bright future — and a brand name that's
directly tied to a controversial budget that would make major changes
to Medicare."

A Columbus tavern owner has lost his
freedom isn't free battle in the Ohio Supreme Court, which yesterday
unanimously ruled that the state's smoking ban is constitutional. The
owner of Zeno's Victorian Village had racked up thousands of dollars
in fines after 10 citations for violating the ban from July 2007 and
September 2009. The state has reportedly threatened to seize the bar
if the fines are not paid.

The Reds defeated the Atlanta
Braves last night on a Todd Frazier walk-off home run in the bottom
of the ninth inning. It was the Reds' fifth straight win, and they're
currently a half game behind St. Louis for first place in the
division.

The Pakistan conviction of the Osama bin Laden doctor who helped
the CIA find him is not going over well with the U.S. government.
Pakistani authorities sentenced Shakeel Afridi to 33 years in prison
for treason, and Afridi was not entitled to representation, though he
has a right to appeal. The U.S. has threatened to cut aid to the
country, arguing that informants work against al-Qaeda and not
Pakistan.

Britain's recession is worse than expected, as the country's
economy shrunk by .3 percent during the first quarter.

John Malkovich is in the latest Apple
advertisement for Siri, during which Malkovich gets some life advice.
The ads follow those released starring Hollywood actors Zooey
Deschanel and Samuel Jackson last month.

Meanwhile unemployment in Cincinnati dropped to 7.5
percent in August, down from 8.2 percent in July. Unemployment in
Hamilton County dropped to 6.8 percent in August, down from 7.3 percent.
The Greater Cincinnati’s jobless rate for the month was 6.7 percent,
putting it below that of the state (7.2 percent) and the nation (8.1
percent).

Speaking of numbers, a new poll released today shows Obama
leading Romney in Ohio – the third such poll in the last four days. The
Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll shows
Obama leading Romney 53 to 43 percent in Ohio, and by similar large
margins in the battlegrounds of Florida and Pennsylvania.

The typically media-shy Republican Ohio Treasurer and
Senate candidate Josh Mandel proposed three new rules for members of the
U.S. Congress in a rare Tuesday news conference. He said he wants
members of Congress to lose their pensions if they became lobbyists, be
limited to 12 years in the House and Senate and not be paid if they
failed to pass a budget. Mandel says his opponent, sitting Democratic
Sen. Sherrod Brown, broke his promise to voters that he would only serve
12 years in Congress. Mandel himself promised to fill his entire term
as state treasurer, but would leave halfway through if he wins the
Senate race.

The governors of Ohio and Kentucky continue to move toward
jointly supporting a financing study for a replacement of the
functionally-obsolete Brent Spence Bridge, and both governors favor a
bridge toll to fund construction. The Kentucky Legislature would have to
approve a measure to allow tolling on the bridge.

Forty percent of Hamilton County’s septic systems are
failing, and homeowners and utilities are arguing over who should foot
the $242 million bill. The Enquirer has an analysis of the ongoing
battle.

The Enquirer is still doing all it can to keep the
Lacheys relevant instead of letting them die off like all bad 90s
trends like Furby and Hammer pants. The paper blogged that Lachey
finished in the bottom three in the first week of the new Dancing with the
Stars: All Stars.

Speaking of those replacement NFL refs, apparently some of
them were fired by the Lingerie Football League for incompetence. Yes,
there are totally unrelated pictures of women playing football.

It's been a wild couple of days in local politics, with most of the names on East Side yard signs losing in Tuesday's City Council election. The newbies: Democrats P.G. Sittenfeld, Yvette Simpson and Chris Seelbach. The new Council will include only one Republican, Charlie Winburn, although Chris Smitherman acts like he's from all sorts of political parties. For the first time ever, the Council will be a majority African American, and Seelbach's win marks the first election of an openly gay candidate to Council.

Four members of the conservative majority that spent most of last year either blocking the mayor's initiatives or Twittering — Chris Bortz, Leslie Ghiz, Amy Murray and Wayne Lippert — were ousted, paving the way for Mayor Mallory and the seven Democrats on council to things they want to do. Congratulations “environmentalists and people who use health clinics!”

An organization called Citizens' League Against Subsidized Sports is gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would add a tax on Reds and Bengals tickets. Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann says he knows that the county's lease doesn't allow it to institute a ticket tax but that it doesn't say anything about a citizens' initiative.

Police costs are rising even though the force is shrinking, partially because it hasn't hired any new officers since 2008 while the top ranks have held steady.

The SB 5 debate is expected to draw a high voter turnout, which could bode well for school levies as voters come out to vote "no" on Issue 2.

The Enquirer over the weekend did an investigative piece on ER
“superusers” — individuals who can sometimes cost the health-care system
as much as $1.3 million due to a lack of health insurance. Hospitals
have said that this "charity care" could be curtailed by Obamacare's
Medicaid expansion and save the state money, but Kasich claims the
Medicaid expansion is too costly for the state.

Approximately 50 Occupy Cincinnati protesters attended yesterday's City Council meeting to testify against Piatt Park's 10 p.m. closing time. Negotiations between the city and protesters is ongoing, according to reports, but no agreement was made yesterday after protesters turned down an offer of a new place to stay overnight and the city declined to let the group stay in the park under new restrictions.

Councilman Chris Bortz and Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz, both of whom have connections to property along the park, have brought up the possibility that if protesters aren't removed that someday the city will have to let the Ku Klux Klan camp out. Ghiz yesterday was criticized by protesters for posting on Facebook the private information of two people who wrote emails criticizing her (more on that here). CityBeat reflected on the situation again here.

More details are coming out about Chris
Monzel and Todd Portune working a behind-the-scenes deal to sell
Drake Hospital for way less than it was worth in order to save rich
people money on their property taxes for one year. Critics have
called it a “fire sale” and questioned the legality of selling a
public asset without competitive bidding, outside studies or input
from county lawyers. From The Enquirer:

"The 2-1 vote ends 87 years of county
ownership of the Hartwell rehabilitation hospital. UC Health will buy
it for $15 million – a price negotiated in secret by one
commissioner and approved with no outside studies, no input from
county lawyers or the county administration, and little public
discussion.

The money from the sale will bail out the stadium
fund for one year, avoiding a $14.2 million deficit for next year. It
also allows the county to restore a property tax rollback promised to
voters in 1996 when they approved a new sales to build and maintain
the stadiums – a rollback largely scrapped this year to pay for the
stadiums."

Cincinnati City Council today will lose
its longtime excuse that there are too many old conservatives
involved to get anything done, as three of its new members are young,
optimistic and representative of the community who aren't old guys or
mean rich ladies. The Enquirer discusses Council's influx of
YP energy here, including a nice photo of Chris Seelbach, Yvette
Simpson and P.G. Sittenfeld with the caption: “Before...” that
seems rather ominous.

Ohio has reportedly offered Sears $400
million to relocate from Chicago to Columbus. Illinois Governor Pat
Quinn says the offer is about four times what Illinois has offered.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed Occupy Cincinnati yesterday at Piatt Park. Later in the day 15 individuals were arrested for staying in the park past its 10 p.m. closing time, the first arrests in weeks, as protesters have challenged the legality of the park closing at all. Jackson was reportedly scheduled to return to the park at noon on Wednesday to again speak with Occupy Cincinnati.

Guess there's a reason why Congress doesn't care much for the 99-percent movement: Eleven percent of Congress is part of the 1 percent. Fifty-eight members of Congress have $9 million or more in net worth, including Kentucky's own Mitch McConnell and John Yarmuth. Congress also includes 250 millionaires, so maybe they'll listen.

Occupy Wall Street celebrated its two-month mark by organizing a “day of action,” beginning with a march to the New York Stock Exchange.

Some Ohio anti-abortion groups apparently didn't learn their lesson from Gov. John Kasich's SB 5 failure, as at least one has broken away from Ohio Right to Life for refusing to endorse HB 125, the “heartbeat bill.” Ohio Right to Life believes HB 125 won't withstand a challenge under Roe v. Wade, but Warren County Right to Life wants to spend a lot of time and resources pursuing it anyway. Ohio Right to Life says a successful legal challenge could strengthen the women's choice side, but other groups are expected to join Warren County Right to Life anyway.